Reviewer:
sarahcohen
-
favoritefavorite -
September 13, 2018
Subject:
Too much cherry picking and not enough facts
Dinnerstein's book is based on far too much rose-tinted partisan bias and not enough authentic historiography. This is not a monograph which gives you a well-measured and balanced view of the whole case, but is slanted in Frank's favor. The lion's share of the evidence entered into the court record against Leo Frank is conveniently absent from his pro-defense monograph.
Dinnerstein only devotes a paltry half-page to Leo Frank's three hour and a half courtroom oratory to the jury, when as a defendant fighting for his life, he took the stand at the final week of his trial.
Published at the end of the 1980s, a better book, 'The Murder of Little Mary Phagan' contains more factual information and less political bias, which was written by the great niece of Mary Phagan. She gives the defense and prosecution equal attention.
Published in 2016, the Afro-American perspective of the Leo Frank Case can best be studied in 'The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews, Volume III. The Leo Frank Trial: The Lynching of a Guilty Man' by Nation of Islam Research Group. Barring the NOI leader's incessant anti-White and anti-Semitic political speech, their book on the Leo Frank true crime story is likely the definitive on the subject.
Dinnerstein's attempt at social history is not a trustworthy or reliable source about what actually transpired about the Frank-Phagan true crime in the historical record.